Writers plot with it. Businesses use it in meetings. Chris Brogan does it. And you can plan your email marketing campaign with it. What is it? Well, the title probably gives it away. So enough with the dramatics. Let’s talk about how you can use a mind map to get your email campaign rolling. This [...]

“Email, like many forms of communication, is dying out.” So state 41% of teens and college students who submitted essays for the AWeber Email Marketing Scholarship. The percentage of Millennials who believe email is on the decline cite social networks like Facebook and Twitter as the new, cool way to communicate. In their own words: [...]

It’s that time again! The backpacks are out of the closet, the lunches are packed and the pencils are sharpened…the kids are off to school again. Now that the end of summer whirlwind has passed, you have time to focus on email marketing! And just like the kids, there’s an alphabet for you to learn [...]

Here’s a professional secret: All the best copywriters cheat. Sort of. They look at what other writers and marketers have done well and swipe their ideas for future inspiration. They save ad copy and headlines that work to adapt them later for their own projects. It’s called a swipe file, and you can build one [...]

Your from line is your branding in the inbox. It sparks instant recognition of your business. And since it’s the very first thing subscribers see, it may be the biggest factor in getting your emails opened. So hopefully you don’t just swap from names without blinking an eye. Hopefully you blink several times while you’re [...]

Do you know why you’re using email marketing? Email marketing can be incredibly valuable for business. But you need to ask yourself how it can be valuable for YOUR business. When you realize how email marketing can be valuable for you, you’ll get a better idea of where you need to start and what you [...]

Do you archive your email newsletters? If you don’t, are you aware of all the different ways an archive can help you?

Archiving your messages can provide a variety of benefits. It can help with everything from list building to properly setting expectations. However, if you’re not exactly sure what an archive can do, you may not be using it to its full potential.

Here’s what you might be missing out on…

No HTML? No Problem!

When you archive your broadcast, it gives you a direct link specific to that message.

If you link to it in your message, subscribers have the ability to see a web-based version of your message. This can be especially effective for subscribers that have disabled HTML, or only receive plain text messages.

Here’s an example of how that can be set up:

Another Way to Ask for Subscriptions

You can easily insert a web form right in your archive. All this requires is a check mark in the “Broadcast Archive Settings,” which you can access by going to the “List Settings” tab and selecting the section “Personalize Your List.:

This is what it looks like:

Once you save this, this form will automatically appear in your archive:

When visitors land in your archive they will now be able to subscribe to your mailing list.

Appear on Search Engines

Your sharing abilities don’t end with social media and forwarding. Your archive will also appear on search engines.

When someone searches for your company or content, one of the options they can get is the link to your archive. From there they have the ability to join your mailing list and visit your website!

See how this works for Bahama Breeze:

Notice that the second result is actually their email archive!

All you need to do is archive the message for it to appear in search engines, so if you don’t use social media, you can still benefit from this.

Easily Share with Others

Probably the most popular feature of the archive is the ability to share your messages with Facebook and post your messages on Twitter followers. This allows for even more people to view your messages!

Besides social media sharing, the archive also makes it easy for subscribers to share your messages with others that might be interested. You can add a note in your message to encourage them to forward it to a friend, and include instructions for how someone can sign up to your list if they aren’t a subscriber.

Here’s what this can look like:

Include a Sneak Peek for More Sign Ups

You can provide the direct link to your recent newsletter or the link to your entire archive in your web form.

Check out how this can be set up in the web form:

You can provide the direct link to your recent newsletter or the link to your entire archive in your web form.

Check out how this can be set up in the web form:

This gives subscribers a first-hand look at what your email campaign has to offer. They can get a feel for your tone and content, and decide if it’s something they’re interested in.

You Can Always Change What Appears on the Archive

You may not want every broadcast message to go in your archive. Maybe you have subscribers pay for their subscription, or maybe you just don’t want to share your brand new content with people who haven’t signed up.

On the flip side, maybe there are messages you want to archive, but you forgot to before they were sent.

Either way, you don’t have to worry! While you can’t edit the content of sent broadcasts, you can change the archive status. This means you can go in and archive an older message, or take another one off the archive.

You can do this by clicking on the sharing button at the bottom of your sent broadcast:

Already Using the Archive in a Creative or Effective Way?

We want to hear about it! How has the archive helped you?

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When you spill the proverbial milk all over a marketing email, it can be tempting to hold your breath, cross your fingers and hope no one notices. And since your audience is behind computer screens elsewhere, you probably won’t see many reactions (especially if they’re not on Twitter). They’ll certainly notice some things; they may [...]

You may think you’re trying to sell your products or service in your emails.

Some people would say you’re wrong.

You never actually complete a sale in an email – that happens on your web site. So your email, they say, should sell a click to your site (slide 31). Then on your site, you can talk details like price to sell the product.

Jay, whom you may have met in a webinar, disagrees. He much prefers prices listed right within emails. Then he can weigh all his options without clicking anywhere for more information.

So… should you list prices in your emails or not? Let’s discuss this.

They Say: Entice Now, Sell Later

When people check their email, they have dozens of things on their mind. To get a reaction from them, your email needs to be irresistible.

It needs to paint an alluring picture. To make them want your product so badly, they can’t look away, and they’re itching to click through and find out how to get it.

Talking price would break the spell.

This may sound fantastical, but it’s got a practical benefit: back on your site, you have plenty of room to counteract any negative reaction someone may have to the price. See for yourself:

In their emails, French Connection creates a desire to buy without alluding to price at all. Back on their site, they keep selling readers on the product for at least one (and up to three) pages before mentioning the cost.

Finally, when they do list the price, they counter it with the idea of owning the entire coordinated outfit and a feeling of urgency that, if the jacket isn’t sold out yet, it may be soon.

Jay Says: Present Your Price As Soon As Possible

Some consumers, like Jay, are tougher sells. They’re not as entranced by the spell you’ve woven. These tougher consumers believe there’s always a flip side, and they don’t want to spend their time clicking around to find out what it is.

So, seeing no price, they shrug and delete your email. Then they go respond to messages with prices displayed, like this one from Tiger Direct.

“If I’m going to buy something, I’ve already done the research as to what it is, and now I just want to know where I can get it and for how much,” he says.

The Verdict

Whether or not you include prices in your email depends on two things:

1. Your audience. Every business attracts a different kind of following. Does your readers want to be swept off their feet and trust you to tell them what’s worth buying? Or are they more cynical and want their information up front?

Maybe you have an audience of bargain-hunters, for whom a good price is paramount. Or maybe for your readers, price is no object as long as they’re getting the best.

2. Your brand image. Do you compete on price? Or do you have well-established competitors who sell cheaper, but can’t match the quality you provide?

If you’re not sure how your readers feel or what exactly you’re competing on, you can always run a split test to find out.

Either Way, Send Value

This doesn’t just mean 15%-off offers – those are a dime a dozen. It means being helpful. Not just promoting products your subscribers just might want, but truly anticipating their needs and concerns, then thoroughly meeting them.

For example, this email from retailer Dorothy Perkins not only presents two outfit ideas for each pair of trousers, it explains what you’d wear the outfits for.

And here, Uncommon Goods‘ message (very creative for an HTML retail email) starts with the problem, then offers products as fun solutions.

What’s Your Price Preference?

Do you list prices in your emails? Do you feel that helps you sell more products?

Or do you keep mum about money ’til you’ve got your readers on your site?

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It’s every email marketer’s challenge: creating just the kind of messages that subscribers will enjoy and respond to.

The straightforward solution is simply asking each subscriber what they’d like to receive.

Asking at sign up can make your form too long and off-putting. So ask for preferences in an email survey instead.

You’ve seen how surveys can help you deliver more targeted email campaigns, now here’s a nuts-and-bolts look at how to set it up.

Survey Says: Put a Little Work In Now…

Setting up an email survey is going to take a few minutes. But we do mean it when we say few – it’s not complicated. Plus, do it once and you’ll get answers from subscribers forever! Here’s how:

1. First, write up a broadcast for your current list with your survey questions in it. List the optional answers people can choose from.

2. Then, link each answer to its own thank-you page. By tracking visits to these pages, you’ll see who clicked on each answer.

3. Don’t worry about tracking visits to those pages yourself – our system will do it. Just toss our email analytics onto each page, and you’re good to go.

4. You’ll want to make sure to get these answers from every subscriber possible. So copy the HTML of your broadcast into a follow up message so future subscribers can choose their preferences as well. Remember, the earlier you set the message in the follow up sequence, the sooner each subscriber will get emails customized to their preferences.

5. Ready? Send out your broadcast! Now next time you send an email, you’ll have data to segment by. Make sure the message goes to the right group: just search your subscribers by “web page visited,” choose the page related to the right group and send to that segment!

(And if you’re not sending this as a follow up, you can use your broadcast’s QuickStats for even easier segmentation!)

Survey Says: It’ll Pay Off Later!

You can use that to send custom versions of your emails out to the different segments you’ve found with your survey. You’ll be able to customize your emails according to…

…who wants only coupons and sales offers, and who wants all your emails no matter what they are

…who wants updates on a specific topic, and who’d rather not hear about it

…who wants weekly emails, and who only wants to hear from you monthly

And Survey Always Says Thank You!

You may have noticed that every time a survey participant clicks on an answer, they’ll be taken to a new page.

This gives you an opportunity to thank people for answering. Also, confirm that you’ve noticed their preferences – they’ll be getting your emails their way from now on!

What Would Your Survey Say?

Surveys let you gather lots of data to segment by. You’ll also get a look at your list’s interests and habits as a whole.

What sort of information should an email marketer ask for from their subscribers? What would you ask for?

Tell us in the comments!

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